Part 40

There are many kinds of Antirrhinum, natives of Europe, Asia, and western North America; herbs; the lower leaves often opposite, and the upper ones alternate; the sepals five; the corolla two-lipped, swollen at the base on the lower side, but with no spur, the palate nearly closing the throat; the stamens four. The name is from the Greek, meaning "nose-like," because the shape of the flowers suggests the snout of an animal.

This is a conspicuous perennial, handsome though rather coarse, hairy and sticky all over, with stout leafy stems, from two to five feet tall, with branches but no tendrils, and soft, rather dark green leaves. The flowers are half an inch long, the corolla pink with a yellow palate, and they are crowded in fine, long, one-sided clusters. This is common in the South and looks a good deal like some of the cultivated kinds; when its flowers are pinched from the sides they open their mouths in the same funny way.

This has tendril-like pedicels, which curl around nearby plants, but the stem is stout and erect, over two feet tall, smooth below and hairy above, with smooth, dark green leaves, and bears a long, crowded, one-sided cluster of pink buds and pretty white flowers. They are each about half an inch long, with hairy calyxes, and the corollas are prettily tinged with lilac or pink, but are too pale in color, though the general effect of the plant is rather striking. The anthers are bright yellow. This grows in the South. A. vírga is a smooth plant, from two and a half to five feet tall, with many wand-like stems, springing from a perennial base, and reddish-purple flowers, about half an inch long, forming a long, rather one-sided cluster. This grows in the chaparral, on ridges of the Coast Ranges, blooming in June, but is not common.

Sticky Snap-dragon--Antirrhinum glandulosum.]

This is an odd-looking plant, from one to two feet tall, which seems unable to decide whether or not it is a vine, for the pedicels of the flowers are exceedingly slender and twist like tendrils and by their means the plant clings to its neighbors and raises its weak stems from the ground, or, if it finds no support, it stands almost erect and waves its tendrils aimlessly in the air. It is smooth all over, with dark green leaves and pretty, bright purplish-blue flowers, about half an inch long, with a pale, hairy palate, which almost closes the throat. This grows in the South, near the sea. A. vàgans is similar and is common farther north in California, growing on dry open wooded hills or in canyons of the Coast Ranges, blooming in summer and autumn.

There are many kinds of Castilleja, almost always perennials, usually parasitic on the roots of other plants, usually handsome and striking, the conspicuous feature being the large leafy bracts, colored like flowers, which adorn the upper part of the stem. They usually have several stems, springing from woody roots; leaves alternate, without leaf-stalks, green below and gradually merging above into colored bracts; flowers crowded in terminal clusters, mixed with bracts; calyx tubular, flattened, more or less cleft in front or behind, or on both sides, the lobes sometimes two-toothed, colored like the bracts, enclosing the tube of the corolla; corolla less conspicuous and duller in color than the calyx, tubular, two-lipped, the lower lip short and very small, not inflated, with three small teeth, the upper lip long and beaklike, enclosing the four stamens and single threadlike style; stigma cap-shaped or two-lobed; anther-sacs unequally attached to the filament, one by its middle and the other hanging by its tip; capsule egg-shaped or oblong, splitting open, containing many seeds. These gaudy plants are well named Indian Paint Brush, for the flower-cluster and leaf-tips look as if they had been dipped in color. Red Feather is also good but Painted Cup is rather poor, as there is nothing cup-like about the flower. They were named for Castillejo, a Spanish botanist.

This is a very handsome kind, from two to four feet tall, with a smooth stem, and smooth leaves, which are not crinkled, toothed, or lobed, and with more or less hairy bracts, which are beautifully tinted with many shades of pink, red, and purple. This is a magnificent plant, especially when we find it growing along irrigation ditches, among blue Lupines, yellow Mimulus and other bright flowers, where the combinations of color are quite wonderful, and it is the handsomest and commonest sort around Yosemite, where it grows in meadows and moist places, from the foothills nearly up to timber-line.

This is not quite so large or handsome as the last, but gives much the effect of a brush dipped in red paint, for the yellowish bracts are beautifully tipped with scarlet and the flowers are also bright red. The rough stem is a foot or more tall, the roughish dark green leaves are not toothed or lobed, but have crinkled edges, and the bracts usually have three lobes. These plants grow in the mountains and often make bright patches of color in the landscape.

This is very variable, and is usually about a foot high, with several hairy stems, springing from a long yellow root. The leaves are slightly rough, but not coarse, with fine white hairs along the margins, and light gray-green in color, the lowest ones not lobed, a few of the upper ones with two lobes, but most of the leaves, and the bracts, slashed into three lobes. The calyx is covered with white hairs, and the upper lip of the corolla is bright green. The whole plant is most beautiful and harmonious in color, not coarse like many Castillejas, and the upper part is clothed with innumerable delicate yet vivid tints of salmon, rose, and deep pink, shading to scarlet and crimson, forming a charming contrast to the quiet tones of the lower foliage. This grows in gravelly soil, on dry plains and hillsides, and the clumps of bloom are very striking among the sage-brush.

There are a good many kinds of Stemodia, widely distributed, only two in the United States; the corolla blue or purplish and two-lipped; the stamens four, not protruding.

This is a rather pretty plant, which is quite effective when growing in quantities. The stem is hairy and sticky, from a foot to a foot and a half tall, with hairy leaves, which have a few sharp teeth. The flowers are three-eighths of an inch long, with sticky-hairy calyxes and bright purplish-blue corollas, white and hairy in the throat. This has a slightly unpleasant, aromatic smell and grows in moist spots, often in mountain canyons near streams, as far east as Texas and also in the tropics.

There are many kinds of Linaria, most abundant in the Old World; herbs; the upper leaves alternate, the lower opposite, usually toothless; the corolla like Antirrhinum, but with a spur; the stamens four, not protruding.

A slender plant, from six to eighteen inches tall and smooth all over, with branching stems, dark green leaves, and pretty little flowers, delicately scented, from a quarter to half an inch long, with bright purplish-blue or pale lilac corollas, veined with purple. This is found in dry soil across the continent and sometimes grows in such quantities around San Diego as to form blue patches in the landscape.

There are many kinds of Veronica; ours are rather low herbs, though some are trees in the tropics, widely distributed, living in meadows and moist places; flowers small, usually blue or white, never yellow; calyx with four divisions, rarely five; corolla wheel-shaped, with a very short tube and four, rarely five, lobes, the lower one narrower than the others; stamens two, sticking out at each side of the base of the upper lobe; anthers blunt, with slender filaments; ovary two-celled, with a slender style and round-top stigma; capsule more or less flattened, two-lobed or heart-shaped, splitting open, containing few or many seeds. They were named in honor of St. Veronica.

Stemodia--S. durantifolia.]

This is one of the most attractive of the little Speedwells, for its flowers are bright and quite large. The stems are branching, hairy and purplish, some short and erect, others long and trailing, and the leaves are alternate above and opposite below, dull yellowish-green, hairy and rather soft, with scalloped edges. The flowers grow singly, on slender flower-stalks over an inch long, springing from the angles of the upper leaves, and the corolla is three-eighths of an inch across, the upper lobe deep brilliant blue, veined with dark blue, the side lobes similar in color but not so bright, the lower lobe almost white, without blue veins, and each lobe with a little pale yellow at its base. The stamens and pistil are white, the anthers becoming brown and the style bent to one side, and the capsule is somewhat heart-shaped, containing several cup-shaped seeds. This forms patches along roadsides and in fields, the soft foliage dotted with the quaint bright blue flowers, opening a few at a time in bright sunlight and closing at night. This is a native of Europe and Asia and is found across the continent.

In shallow water, or in very wet meadows, we find these little flowers. They are smooth perennials, with straggling, branching, purplish stems, more or less creeping, and rooting from the lower joints, from one to three feet long. The yellowish-green leaves usually have short leaf-stalks and are often toothed and the very small, pale blue flowers, with white centers and veined with purple, grow in loose spreading clusters.

A pretty little plant, with smooth, stiffish, toothless leaves and deep bright blue flowers, with a little white at the base of the petals and veined with purple. This is found in damp spots in the mountains, up to twelve thousand feet, in northern places across the continent, and as far south as Arizona.

Alpine Speedwell--V. Wormskjoldii.

American Brooklime--Veronica Americana.]

There are a great many kinds of Pentstemon and some of our handsomest and most conspicuous western flowers are included among them. They are natives of North America, chiefly herbs, sometimes branching below; the leaves usually opposite, the upper ones without leaf-stalks and more or less clasping; the flowers showy, in long clusters; the calyx with five lobes; the corolla two-lipped, with a more or less swollen tube, the upper lip two-lobed, the lower three-cleft and spreading; the stamens four, in pairs, and also a fifth stamen, which is merely a filament without any anther, but is conspicuous and often hairy; the style threadlike, with a round-top stigma; the pod usually pointed; the seeds numerous. The common name, Beard-tongue, is in allusion to the usually hairy tip of the sterile filament. Pentstemon is from the Greek meaning five stamens. This name is often mispronounced; the accent should be on the second syllable and long.

An exceedingly handsome plant, a foot and a half tall, with a stout reddish stem, rather downy and sticky, and dark green leaves, rather shiny and stiff, and downy on the under side. The flowers are an inch and a half long, so large that they look like Fox-glove, and are beautifully shaded from pale lilac to deep reddish-purple, with purple filaments and white anthers and pistil. The calyx is reddish, sticky and downy, and the outside of the corolla glistens with sticky fuzz. This grows in the mountains.

This forms pretty clumps of bright color, with several stems about eight inches tall, smooth below, and smooth dark green leaves. The flowers are less than half an inch long, with a downy calyx and bright purplish-blue corolla, with a purplish throat. This grows in mountain canyons.

Large Beard-tongue--P. glandulosus.]

This is perhaps the most beautiful of all the Pentstemons, with several smooth, stoutish, pale green, leafy stems, from one to two feet tall and smooth, pale bluish-green leaves, with more or less "bloom," toothless and thickish, the upper ones somewhat clasping. The flowers are not hairy or sticky, and are over an inch long, forming a handsome cluster about eight inches long. The sepals are narrow and pointed, the corolla is tinted with various beautiful shades of blue and purple, often with a white throat and blue lobes, or with a pink throat and deep blue lobes, the sterile filament has a thickened, more or less hairy, yellow tip, and the pale yellow anthers are more or less hairy. This plant is beautiful in every way, for the foliage is fine in form and color and the flowers are brilliantly variegated, yet harmonious and graceful. This grows on hillsides and in mountain valleys, at rather high altitudes, and used to be common and conspicuous on the "benches" around the Salt Lake Valley, but it is gradually being exterminated by sheep. It thrives and improves when transplanted into gardens. P. acuminàtus is similar, but the cluster is looser and the flowers often pink and purple. It forms fine patches of color at the Grand Canyon.

A handsome shrub, with much the general appearance of a Honeysuckle, woody below, with long slender branches and pretty heart-shaped leaves. The flowers are often in pairs and are each an inch and a half long, with bright scarlet corollas, conspicuously two-lipped, the stamens protruding, and form large clusters towards the ends of the branches. This grows in light shade in the woods and trails its long branches and garlands of bright flowers over the neighboring shrubs and trees.

A beautiful little shrub, making splendid patches of vivid color on high bare rocks in the mountains, where it is very conspicuous, hanging over the edges of inaccessible ledges. The stems are woody below and very branching, about a foot high, and the leaves are usually toothed, smooth, stiffish, and thickish. The flowers are an inch and a quarter long, with a rather sticky calyx and bright carmine-pink corolla, moderately two-lipped, with a patch of white hairs on the lower lip; the stamens protruding, with conspicuous, white, woolly anthers, and the style remaining on the tip of the capsule like a long purple thread. This is slightly sweet-scented and is common around Yosemite. The alpine form is less than four inches high, with larger, lilac flowers and toothless leaves.

Pride-of-the-mountain--Penstemon Newberryi.]